


Opia

by Tarlan



Category: V (1983)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Sex, Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-10 13:23:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6986806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Diana lived the peace between their people would remain fragile at best. Tyler feels an obligation to resolve that problem, bringing him face-to-face with Philip and the memories of a past encounter that Tyler had tried to bury with Martin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Opia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilverDolphin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDolphin/gifts).



> Written for **Myoldfandom 2016**
> 
> [SilverDolphin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDolphin/pseuds/SilverDolphin) asked for: _The two of them were my very favorite characters, Tyler in particular. The ship tag intrigued me and now I can't help it, I ship them together already! I'd be thrilled with a canon compliant first time. I tend to slightly prefer darker settings, angst with happy ending, hurt, more hurt, optional but welcome comfort, romance (first times are a favorite of mine) and dysfunctional dynamics._
> 
> I do hope this enjoy this story!

_OPIA: the ambiguous intensity from looking someone in the eye_

News of the cease fire spread quickly around the world and though people were celebrating in the streets, Tyler avoided it all, returning to the small apartment he had claimed when he first returned to Northern California. He pulled out all his weapons and carefully began to clean each in turn, barely looking up when Farber paused on the threshold. He'd heard the other man enter, flicking his eyes to the small monitor set up in the corner of the kitchenette for confirmation. In his line of work Tyler didn't call it paranoia, just good sense.

"War's not over until Diana's dead," Tyler stated firmly.

He carried on cleaning as Farber sank into the worn chair on the other side of the table, offering no objection when Farber picked up the Glock and began to disassemble it, laying out the pieces on the rag protecting the tabletop. Farber was well trained by the CIA so Tyler knew he would give the hand gun a thorough clean before reassembling it. They cleaned in silence, still in tune with each other despite Diana's best attempt to brainwash him. They had worked together on the way to Chicago, slowly deprogramming him so the triggers set up in his mind no longer held sway over him. Their CIA training had come in useful there too, and he would never have returned to California if he wasn't certain he had regained full control of his mind. Although he'd been tempted to go back to L.A. to rejoin the resistance group, Tyler had decided he could serve the Resistance better by assisting people to the safe zone where the Red Dust still kept the Lizards at bay, but all that had changed with news of this cease fire.

"When we heading back to L.A.?" Farber asked as he finished reassembling the cleaned Glock, and Tyler smiled wryly.

Yeah, definitely still in tune.

"I'm leaving in two hours." He looked across the table. "Not asking you to come with me."

"You don't need to ask. I'm there for you, bro'."

Tyler set down the piece he was cleaning. "Not inviting you either." He sighed. "Chris, I don't trust the Lizards, not while _she_ 's still breathing, but you need to stay here."

"Invite or no, you can't stop me."

"No, I can't... but I'm asking you to stay in case this truce goes south in a major way. I need to know you'll be here to protect your family."

Tyler knew it was an almost despicable tactic, playing the family card, but Maggie was due to have her baby any day now and Tyler wanted Farber to live long enough to see his kid. He waited until he saw capitulation before smiling wryly again, lips twisting almost into a sneer.

"I'll send your fondest regards to Gooder."

Farber snorted, shaking his head. "Do what you gotta do, bro'."

Once he had everything he needed Tyler headed out, sticking to the back roads despite the truce; he reached the outskirts of L.A. a few hours later. The Resistance Network had kept him updated with the latest news concerning the Lizard invasion and current truce, including an update from the L.A. Resistance, so Tyler knew exactly where to go looking for them. By the time he reached their headquarters, Gooder and his group were already on-board the L.A. mothership but Tyler didn't intend to let that stop him from joining them. With the Lizard Leader's imminent arrival there was a lot of activity at their headquarters on the ground, with a number of shuttles taking off and landing, and with the lizards so distracted, it didn't take much effort to stowaway on-board after relieving one lizard of his distinctive red uniform and sunglasses. Tyler snorted derisively as he stepped onto the mothership just twenty minutes later, wishing they'd been this lax in security the last time he infiltrated a mothership as it would have made his job so much easier.

As this wasn't his first time on-board, he made his way through the ship quickly, ducking back when he saw a group of Visitor soldiers moving towards his position. He watched them pass, eyebrows rising in surprise when he saw Diana and her henchman, Lieutenant James, wearing wrist restrainers. He followed behind them covertly, wanting to see where they were being taken so he could adjust his plans accordingly as it would be suicidal to try to take out Diana while she was surrounded by so many guards. He recognized the holding area from his own imprisonment by Charles and Diana, before the conversion that almost broke his mind. Yet another score he had to settle with Diana.

Most of the guards returned to other duties as soon as Diana and James were in holding cells, and Tyler knew he might never get a better opportunity to rid the universe of this one particularly venomous creature. If he should happen to kill James too then that was just an additional bonus. He'd learned long ago in his CIA training that sometimes the best way to infiltrate was to simply look as if you belonged so he walked right up to the holding area, taking on the air of superiority he'd seen in so many of the lizard soldiers.

"I have orders from the Inspector General to check on the prisoners," he stated, using the relatively new command structure intelligence collected by the Resistance, though he wished they'd also provided a photo of the 'skin' Philip wore when pretending to be human.

"I will have to confirm those orders with-."

"Go ahead. I'm sure Philip will welcome the interruption as he greets our Great Leader, and will reward you accordingly."

Despite being aliens, the Lizards seemed to share a few common traits with humanity, and Tyler recognized the indecision on this lizard's fake human face, so Tyler reached for the communicator, pretending to operate it. "Inspec-."

"Wait. I'm sure the Inspector General has far more pressing matters to attend to at this moment." The guard pressed something on his console and a door opened opposite, leading deeper into the holding area.

Tyler indicated for the guard to precede him, following down the corridor with its row of cells until the guard stopped by the first one occupied. He opened a small observation panel and Tyler saw James's distinctive figure, moving aside before James could turn around and spot him. He wasn't sure if James had committed his face to memory along with the other members of the L.A. resistance but it was better not to take that risk.

"Next," he ordered, and followed the guard to the next cell. This time he saw Diana. "Open it."

"Sir, I'll need proper authorization before-." 

Tyler's fist connected with the lizard's jaw, felling him with a single punch. Tyler grabbed the key card and slid it into the lock mechanism, and the door opened immediately. Diana turned, her patent smirk turning brittle when she saw him standing on the threshold rather than one of her lackeys.

"Ham Tyler." Her superior attitude faltered when she saw the laser pistol in his hand. "If you kill me now you'll never know of my little plan to-."

The single shot drilled a hole straight through her fake, beautiful forehead, her last expression one of complete surprise before she dropped dead to the floor at his feet. He looked down at her dispassionately, sparing only a moment to wonder what plan she had set in motion to save her lizard-ass, but also aware he was not going to make the same mistake as last time, when he hadn't killed her as soon as he had the chance. Two guards rushed in and Tyler dropped his gun, raising both arms in surrender. He would have liked to have had time to deal with James too but he'd finally completed his most important mission for the Resistance, for Earth, and more importantly, for himself. Tyler winced as he was forced hard to his knees, arms grabbed and wrists bound behind him securely before being hauled back to his feet. They walked him only a few cells back down the corridor before he was shoved inside unceremoniously, falling to his knees and barely managing not to face-plant the floor.

Once they left him alone in the cell, Tyler squirmed through several practiced moves until he managed to get his hands back in front of him, still restrained. Making himself as comfortable as possible, he sat down on the floor with his back to the cell wall opposite the door, and counted the minutes until his first 'visitor' arrived. Keeping his eyes on the floor in front of him, Tyler waited until the visitor was close enough for Tyler to see his booted feet.

"I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Tyler."

He snapped his head up at the familiar voice, and startled a second time when he saw a face from the past, though few would have noticed his shocked surprise as he schooled his expression quickly.

"Martin," he stated quietly.

He and Martin hadn't been friends but they'd learned to trust and respect each other during the first occupation by the Lizards, perhaps moving towards a begrudging friendship by the time the last mothership left orbit, though Tyler had an ulterior motive for keeping Martin at a distance. He hated the way his body reacted to Martin's presence despite repeated internal rebukes that the man's physical beauty truly was just skin deep, that beneath the pseudo-skin was not human flesh but lizard scales. Unfortunately his attraction to Martin strengthened rather than diminished after seeing Martin without his human skin just that one time, almost ashamed for feeling lust rather than revulsion, for reaching out and touching, and almost hating Martin for allowing that touch.

Martin was dead though, killed by Diana during her escape from _his_ custody, and Tyler had held himself accountable for Martin's death and for every human death at the Lizard's hands since then. Yet if Martin was still alive then Gooder had lied to him.

"Martin was my brother."

Ruthlessly pushing aside his memories of Martin, Tyler could now see the differences in the way this lizard held himself, not favoring one side from an old injury Martin has sustained during the first invasion. He saw the firmer line of the mouth, the sharper intelligence in eyes that were identical in all other ways, but Tyler knew instinctively that where Martin was soft in too many annoying ways, his brother was stronger, harder, more commanding. Tyler could feel the old stirrings in his body, hating himself for his reaction and for the way his mind wandered to memories of smooth green scales beneath his fingertips.

"I am Inspector General Philip, and you have jeopardized the cease fire by murdering Commander Diana."

Tyler raised both eyebrows because Philip's expression belied his words. "I'd like to think I just gave peace a chance by taking out the trash."

"Commander Diana was under arrest and awaiting transport to stand trial back on Solun Vo."

"Yeah. Been there, done that, got the millions dead to prove it would never happen," he replied bitterly.

Philip actually looked a little sickened by his words, as if those deaths were on him too.

"I needed to question her. To find the names of those still loyal to her."

"Not my problem anymore," Tyler replied laconically even though he felt anything but relaxed right now.

Tyler eyed Philip heatedly, unable to resist 'inspecting the Inspector' and feeling a little guilty and unsettled for liking what he saw because Philip looked so much like Martin, yet better somehow, perhaps because he had a more commanding presence, and that had always turned him on. He considered only a few individuals his equal or better, and he sensed Philip was one of those few. Fortunately, Tyler doubted any of the lizards could read human expressions that well, especially one relatively new to Earth, and yet Philip raised an eyebrow and cocked his head slightly in surprise, unsettling Tyler even more. Tyler decided to turn the focus back on Diana.

"A word of advice. She was a snake. Reptile reference intended. She always had a plan to wriggle out of anything, and it always involved treachery in some form. So if I was you I'd check for a nasty surprise before I went to bed tonight."

Philip straightened fractionally. "You display no remorse at all for your actions."

Tyler didn't bother to answer as it wasn't a question, just a statement of fact. He had regretted a lot of things over the years but killing Diana was never going to be one of them. He remained silent as Philip turned and walked away, seeing him pause on the threshold of the holding cell to glance back over his shoulder at Tyler once more before striding away. The door slid shut behind him and Tyler sighed heavily, having finally made peace with himself now Diana was dead.

****

Philip went to the mothership's control room, thoughts in chaos. He had wanted Diana dead but his hands had been tied by their laws, waiting for her to reveal her treachery so he could have her brought to justice for her crimes, and yet he knew Tyler was right. She would have found a way to wriggle out of the charges or lay the blame upon someone else, most likely Lieutenant James. He found Lydia seated in the command chair, and although he knew her to be as ruthless as Diana on occasion, he knew her loyalty to the Leader overshadowed any personal ambitions. He also knew there was no love lost between her and Diana and knew from the smirk she could not hide that she'd already been informed of Diana's death. 

"The Leader's shuttle?" he asked.

"Still on course for the home world. It should be entering the Dark Zone in twenty-two time parts."

Twenty-two time parts was the equivalent of two human hours, and once the shuttle entered the Dark Zone it would be out of contact until it emerged on the other side. Something was niggling at the back of his mind, and it had little to do with the surprising interest Tyler had shown in him. It was another trait both their people had in common, sexual contact for pleasure and not just for procreation, or restricted to male and female couplings only, though he doubted Tyler would be as interested in him once he shed the pseudo-skin that made him look human. Most humans encountering one of his people in their natural form looked upon them in horror or revulsion, which was why they had created the pseudo-human skin. He had no such reservations regarding the human body with its soft, fragile skin.

He sighed hard in annoyance. However much the thought of Tyler a sexual partner intrigued him, he knew it was a different concern that had set his mind on full alert.

Philip waved off Lydia's offer of the command chair, but thoughts of Tyler brought the human's words echoing inside his head. 

_I'd check for a nasty surprise..._

Treacherous, Tyler had called her. A snake with high ambitions, attained at any cost. Philip knew she had wanted to subjugate the humans and present them to their Leader like a dowry. She had rallied against her forced marriage to Charles, and he wondered what role she had played in the Supreme Commander's murder soon after. It was too much of a coincidence especially in light of other transgressions, and now the Leader had taken the Star Child for his mate, her chance of attaining such a high position had gone... unless...

"Bring Lieutenant James to an interrogation room. It is time we discussed his allegiance to Diana."

It took very little time to convince James it was in his best interest to speak up.

"Diana planted a bomb on the Leader's shuttle along with evidence that would point back to me if it was discovered. It is due to detonate after it reaches the Dark Zone." James shook his head. "That's all I know."

Philip strode away quickly, opening communication directly to the Leader. Very few had this ability, which was why he had attained such a high position of authority compared to his brother. He listened to the response, knowing there was nothing more he could do except monitor his connection to their Leader, and hope it would not be severed should the bomb not be found and defused in time. They lost contact with the shuttle soon after, but the fine thread of his connection to the Leader prevailed, and the shuttle emerged from the Dark Zone many hours later, intact.

When he entered the holding cell, Tyler was still seated where he had left him earlier, on the floor with his back to the wall, facing the cell door. He stood up defiantly, remaining still as Philip approached him.

"It appears you were correct. Diana attempted to sabotage the Leader's shuttle. The Star Child disarmed the bomb with the assistance of a human stowaway. I believe you know Kyle Bates," he added blandly. Philip looked at the guard who had followed him in. "Take off the restraints and leave," he ordered, enjoying the human's expression of confusion as the guard approached him. Philip waited until the guard had left the holding cell before continuing. "The penalty for treachery against the Leader is execution, " he paused, eyeing Tyler for a moment before continuing. "It seems the leader has therefore considered your actions in killing Diana as justified." Philip glanced towards the open cell door. "You are free to go."

Tyler rubbed at his wrists, appraising him for a moment in suspicion before brushing by Philip, who waited until Tyler had reached the door before adding, "Unless you want to stay and... explore our similarities and differences more intimately."

The flush of color on the otherwise pale cheeks confirmed Tyler understood what he was offering and he saw the human's chin rise defiantly.

"Lead on," Tyler ordered, and Philip smiled to himself as he stepped out of the holding cell ahead of Tyler, leading him through the corridors to his private quarters.

****

Philip had seen images of naked humans before because they were the promised food from a newly discovered world. When the ships returned the first time the food was mostly dead meat, butchered and sold in pieces. The few humans sampled alive had seemed like dumb animals but Philip knew better now. He knew those humans must have been drugged to make them appear non-sentient or there would have been no need for a Fifth Column headed by Martin. Philip knew a lot of the high ranking among his people would be facing trials of combat or fire now the truth was known to the Leader, and perhaps that is why Diana was so determined to see their Leader dead. The Star Child proved that despite their differences - reptilian and mammalian - they retained DNA similar enough to produce living young. The very fact that they shared so much similar DNA proved that either the creatures of Earth were seeded by his people or his people had originally come from Earth. The latter was more likely as the ancient myths and legends spoke of a great voyage across a sea of stars to a chosen world.

Watching Tyler undress, slowly revealing more naked skin, pushed aside all thoughts of history and anthropology. Philip copied his actions, stripping down until he was also mostly naked apart from the pseudo skin of his hands, face and neck.

"All of it," Tyler stated huskily, his engorged penis standing proud as his eyes roamed freely over Philip's body from the dark green scales of his legs to the far paler, almost white of his abdomen.

Philip could feel his cloaca opening and his phallus emerging as they studied each other so heatedly, so similar the human's single exposed organ rather than the two phallus of most reptiles on this world. It proved their people were closer genetically. Carefully he stripped off the pseudo skin from his wrists and hands, revealing claws neatly clipped to avoid tearing the pseudo skin. Taking off the human face was a relief, feeling the air against his scales, and he tasted the air after removing the tongue guard. The small crest between his head ridges rose once the restricting wig made from human blond hair was removed, revealing his full arousal as he looked upon a potential bedmate.

"Beautiful," Tyler murmured, looking deep into his true, slitted eyes, and any fears Philip had of the human finding his reptilian form repulsive were banished instantly.

They closed in on each other and Philip reached out to caress the silken skin, so smooth and fragile beneath his finger pads. He shivered as one of Tyler's hands slid over his scaled side while the other reached up to touch his face. Tyler leaned in and Philip hissed softly as Tyler pressed his lips against his, the agile forks wrapping around the human's blunt tongue. He could feel fingers caressing the membrane of his crest, increasing Philip's lust for this human, this coupling. Hotter than his own kind, Tyler's hand seemed to sear Philip's flesh when he wrapped it around both their erections, working them slowly together. He could feel the heat of the human's penis against the side of his own, and the slide of a thumb in just the right place, different from the human's erogenous bundle of nerve endings, proving this was not Tyler's first touch of a male of his kind.

Martin.

Philip wrapped his hand around Tyler's, stilling the delicious movement.

"Martin," he demanded softly, needing to know if he was merely a substitute for his dead brother.

"Yes... and no." Tyler's dark eyes seemed to be begging for understanding. "We touched but... He wasn't what I wanted, and I wasn't the one he wanted."

"And I am?"

Tyler smiled wryly, lips twisting, voice deeper with barely-checked desire. "Yeah. You're exactly what I want."

Philip could feel the truth of his words and surged against Tyler, hearing the sharp, soft cry as his soft belly and rougher scales brushed against Tyler's more delicate skin, their erections still wrapped in Tyler's strong hand. He hissed, his tongue flicking out to taste the salt of sweat on Tyler's heated skin as they rocked together, movements growing bolder, more frantic as the pleasure sent sparks of pure lust, desire, and need through his entire body from his quivering crest to his curling toes. When he came his mind and body seemed to whiten out in a blaze of sensation, overloading from pleasure, his knees buckling and sending them both sprawling, the soft bed breaking their fall. He could feel Tyler laughing while simultaneously trying to calm his racing breath, and Philip chuckled too at the ungainly position they'd ended up in, of tangled limbs and the damp of sweat and their joint release smeared between them. Tyler leaned up on one elbow and looked down on him, appraising him with his dark, round-pupil eyes, a smile still playing about his lips.

"Exactly what I want," he repeated, lowering his face to rub his rough, stubbled cheek against Philip's sensitive, scaled flesh before kissing him again, tongues coiling and tasting languidly this time.

The Leader was safe, and with Diana dead, the Earth was now safe too, with the war between their people over.

Philip had all his answers now, for why his brother had sided with the humans, and for why he had given his life to protect them, and Donovan in particular. Heat radiated off the skin of the human in his arms, pressed up against his side, and it was perfection.

"Next time I want to taste you," Tyler murmured, breath hot against Philip's softly-scaled throat, and the thought of the human's hot mouth around his phallus sent a renewed shiver of desire coursing through him.

After years seeking a mate among his own kind he had finally found perfection with this human, and Philip was prepared to fight to keep Tyler by his side from this time forward.

END  
 


End file.
